Memories in a Bubble
by Wild Rhov
Summary: The Monster Trio survived Downward Plume by climbing into Zoro's bubble. While Sanji and Zoro are in that bubble alone, the darkness of their two harsh years of training resurfaces and the two comfort one another in their own way.
1. Warm Memories, Cold Lips

_Disclaimer: I don't own _One Piece_, I just have an overactive imagination._

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><p><strong>Memories in a Bubble<strong>

a _One Piece_ fanfic

by Rhov

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Chapter 1

**Warm Memories, Cold Lips**

Zoro looked around in the cold deep-sea darkness. It felt like only a moment ago he got sucked into the Downward Stream with Sanji, Luffy, and the Kraken. He refused to admit he had passed out. No, a mere nap. That's what he would consider it.

Only, no giant beast, no crazed rubber captain, and no perverted cook.

"They all got lost again," he spoke aloud.

Then, out of his good eye, he thought he saw something, not much, a white stick with a tip of ash extinguished by the ocean. He could even see where Sanji's lips once held the cigarette firmly, crushing down the paper. He swam in his bubble over to the cigarette and looked around some more, squinting into the darkness. A few meters away, he saw a flutter of material and swam toward it with hope. Getting closer, he saw Sanji's white winter coat...and no Sanji.

"He's down here, no air, no coat, no cigarette."

A gush of worst case scenarios rammed his mind like a typhoon. Gone, just as he and Sanji had reunited and before they had a chance to rediscover that flame that had once burned between them, a spark that drove Zoro on for two years, memories of secretive meetings in the kitchen, desire he had tried to set aside as he focused on Mihawk's training and "extra" training. However, nothing could beat that damn cook. No one could satisfy Zoro like Sanji could.

And now...gone? He refused to accept it. Not now. Not when that memory burned his mind.

They had been running and fighting since meeting in Sabaody Archipelago. There were a few silent smiles, knowing looks, and during one of Sanji's nose bleeds—seriously, what happened to him during those two years?—Zoro gave his old lover a kiss, although Sanji was unconscious at the moment. He had hoped that while the rest of the crew were distracted by mermaids, the two of them could slip away. Zoro had learned a thing or two from Mihawk. He could hardly wait to show Sanji that "extra training."

If he could find him. If he was alive.

Those odds were growing dimmer by the second.

Suddenly, black cloth against black sea, the tail of a coat. Zoro swam desperately toward it. Then he saw the loose blond hair floating freely around a pale face. Sanji was unconscious, and his bubble had popped in the rough ride through the Downward Stream. The cook's mouth was open. Only some bubbles of air rested within his nostrils.

"Sanji!" he shouted as he swam hard.

Moments flashed through Zoro's mind. He remembered the first time he laid eyes on Sanji, dressed impeccably, a casual sashay to his walk as the sexy waiter brought their food out at Baratie. Maybe it wasn't love at first sight, but he had thought almost immediately, here was a man who looked refined. Then their first time touching, a casual, accidental thing, fingers colliding together in the midst of a crew-wide food fight just before they entered Grand Line. Nami had ducked out as soon as the food began to fly, Luffy and Usopp had been too enthralled in tossing sushi at one another to notice, so no one else saw. Between the cook and swordsman there was an instant spark. Zoro had smiled, Sanji blushed under his gaze, and by that brief touch something began, an understanding shared between them.

He remembered shortly after that, during a private moment between them before they were a couple, Zoro had stroked Sanji's bangs back in a gentle caress, wanting to see his full face and admire it. He made an ass of himself by shouting in shock and drawing back, stunned to see Sanji's asymmetrical eyebrows. The cook was far too self-conscious about his brows and ran off crying. After the incident, he refused to speak to Zoro for a week.

Zoro's mind drifted to their first kiss, a memory still vivid in his mind after all these years. Sanji had still showed a lingering feeling of shame for being in a gay relationship, something he quickly got over as more kisses came. Still, he had issues they never completely worked out. Sanji begged Zoro to keep their relationship a secret from the crew. Zoro didn't care one way or another. It wasn't like Sanji tried to be quiet; he seemed to forget that _Going Merry_ was a small ship. If from down in the hold he could hear Nami giving Usopp a blowjob in the crow's nest—and those two were as quiet as mice—the whole crew surely heard Sanji's heated moans in the kitchen. But if Sanji wanted to pretend nothing was going on, Zoro would let him.

The darkness threatened to consume him in old memories, and Zoro shook his head to shove past those tender moments. He finally swam up to Sanji's freely floating body, reached through the dark water, and grabbed the cook's shoulders.

"Sanji? Sanji! Wake up, you damn ero-cook!" He shook him roughly, and the bubbles in his nostrils floated out on their long journey to the ocean surface. "No!"

Seeing Sanji with his mouth loose and open, Zoro thought of their first time together. _Going Merry_ was gone, but his best memories of that ship were with Sanji, and that first night was the pinnacle of his elation. They had both been a bit drunk, Sanji on expensive wine, Zoro on cheap sake, but only enough to loosen their inhibitions. The rest of the crew had fallen asleep early after a hard fight with Marines. Zoro and Sanji had been relaxing on the deck, looking up at the stars, clinking cups once in a while, laughing, getting in a kiss, a real treat to do that in the open. Then more kisses. Then the clothes came off and their hands became adventurous. When Zoro saw the full moon reflecting on Sanji's pale skin, he knew this was more than just a casual fling.

He was not Sanji's first, not by a long shot, but the cooks of Baratie teased him so much, it had made Sanji ashamed. Zoro was not one for patience. He did not ease Sanji into a relationship, but thrust into him recklessly. That was when he inadvertently discovered that, despite his personality and overdoing the womanizing act to compensate for his discomfort in being bisexual, Sanji honestly liked being the uke. He loved it rough. The rougher the better! It was the perfect relationship for a domineering spirit like Zoro.

Memories of that first time and all the times to follow raced through Zoro's mind in a flash. He remembered when Luffy once walked in on him and Sanji while they were "busy" on the dining table. The captain said simply, "Ah, don't mind me," then walked to the refrigerator and grabbed the biggest chunk of meat he could find. Sanji had desperately wanted to yell at him for eating up the food again. Zoro had watched his lover with wry amusement as Sanji laid there, pinned under him, sweaty but chilled by fear of being found out. He had chuckled at how the cook had opened his mouth many times to yell at their gluttonous captain, yet always shut it with nothing more than a grunt or half a syllable. Sanji was too nervous to say a word lest the others come rushing in to see what was going on and the entire crew discover the truth. Then their casually accepting captain walked right back out with a loud call for the others to look at him doing something noisy and stupid near the bowsprit, pulling all attention far away from the kitchen. So thoughtful after all! Zoro could have kissed Luffy for that.

He shook the memories out of his head. "Sanji!" he yelled again at his drowned nakama floating in the middle of the ocean.

The memories were burning him. His left eye stung; the pain never really went away. He grabbed the cook in an embrace. Desperately, he pulled him through the protective bubble layer until the wet tailor suit was against him, drenching his dark green outfit.

"Come on, you damn ero-cook bastard! Don't you dare die on me."

Careful of the bubble, Zoro twisted Sanji around, wrapped his arms around the man's lean body, just as he had so often embraced the cook from behind and whispered something dirty into his ear. There were no seductive words this time. He dug his fists into Sanji's abdomen and thrust upward. Water poured out of the limp mouth, dripped down the blond hairs on his chin, and filled the bottom of the bubble. Zoro performed the maneuver again, again, again, each time causing mouthfuls of water to gush out. Then he flipped Sanji around and looked at the loose blue lips.

That first kiss came to mind again. He could still taste the nicotine and hint of garlic.

This was no time for bittersweet memories. Working uncomfortably in the limited space of his bubble, Zoro put his mouth over Sanji's. His lips were cold and beginning to stiffen. Zoro puffed in as much air as possible, but the air came right back out with no response. He breathed again. The nicotine whiff was still there, just as he remembered. His fingers felt Sanji's throat. No pulse.

"Dammit, you are _not_ dying on me!"

He thumped Sanji's chest so hard he might have cracked a rib, then puffed in air again. That damn eye scar burned. His teeth gritted in anguish between each breath he forced in.

"Breathe, you perverted fucker!"

**End of Chapter 1**


	2. Darker Memories

Chapter 2

**Darker Memories**

Suddenly, Sanji coughed sea water all over Zoro's face. Zoro hit the cook's back a few times, then hugged Sanji close to him as the drowned man gasped, coughed, and shook as his heart remembered how to beat.

"Wha-...? Zoro?" He was held so tightly, he could not look around, but he inhaled the coat. He knew that musky smell from anywhere. "What the hell happened?"

"You stupid pervert," Zoro growled, but his chest jolted from withheld sobs of relief. "You damn, stupid, shitty sonuvabitch."

Sanji pulled back and looked at Zoro's face with a hint of concern. "Are you...crying?" Then he had to smirk a little. "I didn't think a marimo could cry."

"Shut the hell up! You puked water all over my face, that's all, dammit." He tried to act gruff, yet Sanji still looked so weak and helpless. His color wasn't back yet, and the cook still coughed up bits of water. Zoro held him, ready to protect him. "I thought I lost you. Don't you dare make me worry like that again, shit-cook." He inhaled the smell of Sanji's neck and nuzzled it slightly. "I don't think I could keep fighting if I lost you." His lips lightly sucked on the pale skin.

Sanji yanked back and pushed Zoro's chest, shoving the two of them as far apart as the bubble allowed, which wasn't much. "Wh-what are you doing?"

Zoro had a predatory gleam in his eye and a smirk to his snarling lips. "What d'ya think I'm doing? You scared the shit outta me just now with your dying act, so I plan on punishing you." He began to move in again.

"Wait!" Sanji screamed. He flinched and cringed back with his hands raised in defense.

Zoro paused, shocked at the terrified expression in the cook's face. Why would Sanji be scared of him? Sure, it had been two years since they did _that_, but he had never looked frightened, not even their first time.

"I...I can't, Zoro."

The swordsman's anger flared for a moment. "Can't?" he bellowed in sexual frustration.

All he had thought about since arriving on Sabaody was seeing Sanji again. He even left Mihawk early, yet Sanji came moseying in at number seven. He had felt angry that Sanji wasn't equally eager to reunite, to get there early before the rest of the crew and get a jump on their relationship before they were forced back onto a ship where everyone could hear everything. Now, pushing him away? Acting scared? _What the fuck!_

Sanji looked aside and sighed loudly. "I've changed, Zoro."

"Yeah, now you push me away but you act like a damn pervert gushing blood every time Nami so much as glances at you."

"It's not Nami, you muscle-brained moron," he shouted angrily. "You...with that coat open...no shirt...that scar...thick muscles...so...so masculine!" There was already a trickle of blood dripping from his nostril onto his peach-fuzz upper lip. He wiped it away fast. "After what I've been through, to see a man like you, to be reminded what women truly look like, and what a real man is _supposed_ to look like...to see the drastic difference between buoyant Nami and...and _you_..."

"Then what the hell's the problem?" Zoro snapped. "I'm here, I'm still a man, you still want me, let's fuck. Not that difficult to figure out."

Sanji had a darker look to him. Zoro had seen it a few times, a side Sanji usually tried to hide, but never had it looked as gloomy as this. "You have no idea what I've been through these past two years."

"So you've said already a few times, yet you won't tell anyone." Zoro brushed back Sanji's bangs. The goatee he liked, but the change in parting his hair was something he wasn't too sure about. "You can tell me," he said softly, trying to encourage him with a rare hint of tenderness.

So close together, sharing the same bubble, Zoro felt Sanji shudder. "No, I can't tell you. Especially not you." He glanced up with sorrow. "I went through hell, Zoro. _Okama_ hell. And...I was weak. There were moments..." He shuddered again, a memory of a pink dress and a wig. The horror made his eyes glaze over. "I know you too well, Zoro. I know you're aggressive, and I've always loved that. After what those people put me through...I...I don't know when I'll be able to simply make love again, let alone be the uke. I...I don't think I can be...ever," he whispered sadly. "They broke me, Zoro. They broke me, and I let them, all so I could get stronger. I told myself I was doing it for Luffy, but...I think it might have been at the sacrifice of _us_."

Zoro was more curious now than ever. What the hell happened to him? Okama hell? What did he mean? Broke him? Can't be the uke anymore?

"Okay, so you grew a backbone," he shrugged, trying to take this different Sanji in the same nonchalant stride he took everything in life. "You can't be the uke? Fine. Then you can take me."

Sanji's visible eye widened. "What did you say?"

"What, are you deaf too, shit-cook? I said you can take me, be the seme, whatever it is you need to get over your problems. We've done it that way a few times before." Zoro sighed and ran his fingers through his green hair. "Look, I love you. Maybe I never said it back then, but I realized during these past two years, we had something damn good. I'm not going to shrug and dismiss that. You need time to heal? Not a problem. You need to be the aggressive one? I'm used to that."

Sanji's eyes now narrowed. "Used to that?"

Zoro realized this was a horrible time to bring up Mihawk. He had learned some good things about submission while under that man's tutelage. "I'll be honest with you, I'm horny as hell. Maybe it's the rush of fearing you were dead, maybe it's the nagging knowledge that we are currently adrift far under the ocean, separated from our crew, with maybe half an hour of air, or maybe the lack of oxygen and slow asphyxiation is making me aroused, but...I need you, desperately, and whether it's you or me, one of us had better initiate this while we still have air in this bubble, because goddammit I refuse to die horny and unsatisfied."

Sanji hesitated, then slowly reached forward and ran his finger along Zoro's cheekbone, following the scar that slashed his eye. "You'll have to tell me how you got this."

"Later."

"I know," he smiled. "You really don't mind? I can be...a man?"

Zoro arched an eyebrow. "Yeah, of course you can."

"You'll be the uke, but you won't pretend to be a woman?"

"The fuck! Hell no, I'm not gonna be a woman." Zoro pulled back a little. "Is that what you want? Because if so, I'm sorry, Sanji, but you can forget it. There is no way in hell you're putting me in a frilly pink dress."

"No," he chuckled. Slowly Sanji's laugh grew louder, and as it did his lithe body relaxed. "Hahaha! No, I...I don't want that. Not at all. Hell no, never again," he shuddered. "I'm gay, but I am not an okama. I just wish they could have accepted that."

"They?" Zoro asked skeptically.

Sanji looked miserable. Zoro thought again about Mihawk, along with memories of the past two years. That man, his enemy and his idol, had often been forceful. Their first time together was nothing less than rape, Mihawk showed Zoro just how inferior he was by utterly dominating and humiliating him. The master swordsman had proved his point over and over again over those two years.

Yet Zoro came to like it, even Mihawk's sadistic side and odd fetishes. Perona became a spooky side lover, so that Zoro could still dominate someone and retain a fairly good opinion of his masculinity. Mihawk never complained. He wasn't the sort who stuck to the stereotypes of seme and uke. Why, near the end of their training, the older man took a few turns being the receiver and had to admit that Zoro's use of three swords was certainly not trying to compensate for something.

What if Sanji's training had been similar, yet without any enjoyment? What if someone as powerful as Mihawk had trained him...and hurt him? The thought that Sanji might have been sexually traumatized made Zoro's blood boil, but another side to him wanted to help his old nakama, no matter what that meant!

Zoro studied his partner. He truly would do anything for Sanji. He made up his mind right there: no matter how bizarre the action, he would help Sanji overcome his issues. He would help to "heal" him...no matter what that involved.

"Is there anything I should do?" he asked, trying to be serious. "Be honest. What will turn you on? It doesn't matter what you request, I can handle it."

"Yes. Bandanna," Sanji said, pointing to the dark cloth tied around Zoro's arm. "Wear it."

"Blindfold?" he chuckled. _Kinky bastard!_

"No, wear it how you do when you fight seriously. I want to see that. You look...really manly when you put it on." He began to blush.

"Whatever," Zoro smirked as he tied the bandanna low over his brow.

"Yes, like that," Sanji sighed gently, gazing at him with fondness. He caressed Zoro's bare chest and ran a finger along the badly stitched scar. "That's how I tried to remember you. That final battle on Sabaody against that PX-4 guy, you donned your bandanna and sliced him up good. That...was the last really heroic thing you did."

"Gee, thanks a whole fucking lot!"

"We could all see you were weakened since Thriller Bark."

Zoro looked away. It was something he didn't like to think about even now.

"Then Admiral Kizaru had you pinned, about to...to stab you. If old man Raleigh hadn't showed up right then..."

"Oi, oi," Zoro interrupted, not liking to remember that fight, especially the fact that he was the first one defeated by Bartholomew Kuma. "It was two years ago."

"It was the last time I saw you, Zoro," he whispered, "covered in blood, vanished before my eyes. I lost you...and the others...and I felt so powerless."

Zoro wrapped him into his arms. "It worked out in the end, right? We're stronger."

"We could die in this ocean today."

"Which means we're wasting good sex time."

Sanji had to laugh at his stubbornness. "I was really hoping to get you into my kitchen again. Did you know Franky built a bed in the back for us?"

"The cutting table is more fun."

"Blade fetish."

"Food fetish."

"Stupid marimo."

"Shitty ero-cook."

"God, I've missed you!"

Sanji attacked his mouth so fast, Zoro and the whole bubble was shoved backward and spun a few times until they floated upside down.

**End of Chapter 2**


	3. Making New Memories

Chapter 3

**Making New Memories**

Sanji's long blond hair floated and tangled in the spinning bubble, eventually sticking out in wet spikes. As the bubble bobbed along, their frantic groping made it spin at times, yet the darkness all around them made it hard to know which way was up.

Sanji palmed Zoro through his black pants. It did not take long at all for him to harden. As he did, Sanji went from palming to grasping what he could through the loose clothes, roughly gripping him, almost too rough. Sanji's face dived like a hawk swooping at his prey, but his target was Zoro's ear, nipping the rim hard. The swordsman hissed at that, but it felt too damn good. Sanji's tongue stroked the three earrings, sending them jingling. He smiled as he watched them sway. Then he licked the long length of Zoro's neck.

More nibbles followed. Zoro moaned at the hot hand kneading him and hot tongue sliding down, sucking places Sanji recalled were erogenous zones for the swordsman. Hot blood rushed through Zoro. He gritted and pressed his groin into Sanji's deft fingers kept delicate for fine cooking.

The lack of air was a drug. Mihawk had some crazy fetishes, and he once mentioned autoerotic asphyxiation. It wasn't something Zoro felt comfortable trying, especially not with Mihawk. Trapped in this bubble, with their gasps devouring what little air was left and his cheeks buzzing from the lack of oxygen, he wondered if maybe there was something to it.

Sanji was yanking at Zoro's coat so hard, Zoro had to help him undress so he wouldn't rip his clothes. He liked that new outfit and didn't want it torn. He began to loosen Sanji's tie, but the cook smacked his hand away roughly.

"The tie makes me a man."

Another kink? Sounded fine. He shrugged and decided Sanji would remove whatever clothes he felt comfortable with. He was doing this for an old lover. Sanji was in control.

Sanji gave Zoro a firm kiss and began working on this own pants. "I know we're squished in here but...could you...suck me? Just a little."

"You're sure acting squeamish for someone who thinks he wants to play the seme now."

Sanji said nothing, and Zoro didn't bother waiting. He knew Sanji was uncomfortable with his own homosexuality, but this was different. He acted unusually bold in that regard. No, he hesitated with intimacy itself, as if frightened of getting so close. Again, he wondered what happened to Sanji to make him so uneasy. Where had he gone, what was okama hell, and what happened to him to make him this way?

Zoro was limber from his training and managed to bend and contort in a way so he could fit his head between the cook's thighs. It wasn't graceful, but Mihawk had special ways of training Zoro to strengthen his third sword, toning the muscles in his mouth. Zoro had plenty of experience with blowjobs now.

He spent just a moment to admire the engorged shaft with its pink head. "Salami and 'shrooms" had been a joke between them. He gave the shaft a long, slow lick. Sanji sucked air between his teeth at the heat in Zoro's mouth. His tongue swirled around the flared edge, then he tightened his lips and made the head's tip push into his mouth, making it feel very tight.

"God, where the hell did you learn to do that?" Sanji gasped.

Zoro smirked to himself. If Sanji was impressed with something as simple as that, he couldn't wait to make him experience everything he learned from Mihawk.

Sanji was stiff and quiet as Zoro got to work. The chef stroked his fingers through the green hair. It was longer, and he liked that. Not too long, but not the fuzzy marimo head he had come to love. It was just enough to grasp, and he did, pulling his hair with tender roughness. It made Zoro groan and flinch, forcing his face closer to him until he felt his dick hit the back of Zoro's throat. Sanji smiled at seeing his lover's eyes squint hard from the pressure at his tonsils. The mild gagged sound was musical to him.

Sanji felt the difference instantly. Bless his heart, but Zoro had always given horrible blowjobs. Usually, they just never bothered with much oral and went straight to grinding. Something was different now.

His tongue!

Had he exercised his tongue too?

Somehow, the image of Zoro doing push-ups with nothing but his tongue came into Sanji's mind so clearly, he could imagine his muffled counting, "1432, 1433..."

His lips were powerful too. Zoro's sucking before had been enough to get him hard eventually, but sadly lacked in technique. This time, it was like he would never let go, and how his lips gripped while his tongue licked and added just the right amount of extra pressure... it felt so extraordinary, Sanji almost wanted to let him keep up at it until he was finished.

That would have to wait for another time. Sanji was ready for more.

No, he _needed_ more!

"Okay, stop," Sanji ordered. "If I don't get in you soon... but first, can I... can I ask something before we start?"

"No," Zoro said roughly, slipping his pants off.

"During these two years, did you... I mean, I'm sure you did, so... how many people did you...?"

"I'm not talking about that now. We have maybe twenty minutes of air. We'll talk after."

Sanji hesitated. He really did look like he needed to talk, but Zoro knew that the worst thing to kill a boner was a heart-to-heart. He was worked up, and Sanji felt hard as a rock. It was now or they'd run out of time. If he was going to die, he wanted to die spent and sore, not bemoaning the past.

"Just the pants," Sanji shouted when Zoro began to tug on his coat. "Just move the coat aside, but you don't have to take it off."

"Partial clothes on? No problem. Want me to keep my swords on?" he asked, touching the red sash that held the three katana.

"Can you?" he asked between kisses. "Swords: can't get more sexy and manly than that."

"Yeah, you used to tease me about phallic compensation, you damn prick."

Sanji laughed and caressed Zoro's face. The swordsman was not used to such tender attention, but he put up with it if this was what Sanji needed to regain his masculinity. He even found it amusing, if only to see how Sanji must have loved such attention all those years

Then he paused and looked deeply at Zoro. "You're a real man, Roronoa Zoro. I love that about you."

"Do you seriously think you can pull off being the seme?" he teased.

"Maybe not," Sanji admitted lightly. "I just need to be reminded that I'm a man too. They tried to make me into an okama, Zoro."

"Shut the hell up and fuck me already!" Zoro grumbled in annoyance. Sanji always did talk too much.

After two years, Sanji had his man again. Surrounded by okama, he had temporarily lost touch with his masculinity. He feared being the uke would remind him of that weak moment. Damn those okama, but they all wanted it in the ass, and being the only masculine person around, Sanji had been forced to satisfy them if he wanted his lessons for the day. If they had been regular gay men, or even real straight women, he would have had no problems, but the drag queens messed with his mind. As he humped one how he had on occasion humped Zoro, the dress and makeup made him remember the day Robin had begged him to ease her cravings. He could take one gender or the other, but not both together. At least this once, he needed to be the seme again, but with a true man. Hopefully, that would cure him of his gender confusion.

The fact that Zoro was eager to restart their romance made this easier. He had hoped to have time to rekindle that first spark and let it grow slowly, not a frantic fuck before they died of asphyxiation. Still, the thought of playing the uke made him remember those okama bastards squealing as he pumped into them, cursing them, desperate to learn and willing to sacrifice his own honor to accomplish Luffy's plan and, more importantly, Sanji's own quest to find All Blue.

He leaned over and bit the side of Zoro's neck. It was so much thicker than two years ago, tense with muscles. His arms were considerably thicker too. He inhaled the musk, reminding himself of the nights they spent curled in each others arms. There was a slightly different spiciness, though, a change in shampoo perhaps. Sanji's nose was trained to recognize spices. He had smelled this unique aroma on Baratie, when Dracule Mihawk arrived.

He leaned the bubble so that he had Zoro laid back, his knees bent awkwardly in the bubble, but fully exposed. Sanji licked his finger and massaged Zoro's asshole. The swordsman hummed. Then, slowly, Sanji pushed the finger in, loosening the area.

Zoro moaned and closed his eyes. The cook could sense Zoro surrendering his domineering spirit, submitting to Sanji's wishes. While his fingers mad Zoro squirm, his other hand pushed Zoro's coat apart. Sanji leaned over and licked his tensing nipples. It was frigid down in the ocean, plus the erotic feel of Sanji's thin, nimble fingers made everything tense on Zoro's taut body. Gently, Sanji took the tip of the nipple in his teeth and bit softly.

Zoro yowled at that. "Fuck! You've never been into biting before."

"That was then," Sanji grinned. "A man is the greatest gourmet. I want to enjoy my meal." With that, he leaned over and licked the other nipple, making Zoro hum, until he nipped it, a little harder than the first time. Zoro's penis did a leap at that and darkened more. "I think he likes it," Sanji mused playfully. "Shall I bite some more and watch him dance?"

"Sh-shut up, pervert!" Zoro yelled as his face turned bright red. _Blushing? Why the hell am I blushing? _It frustrated him to think that hearing Sanji talk like that would embarrass him, but... dammit all, but he liked this new, rougher Sanji.

The bubble made for cramped moving around and positioning. They had to be careful not to have the swords hit the bubble too hard. Still, Zoro laid himself out, panting already, cold from the water, hot from Sanji's touches.

"Are you ready?" Sanji asked softly.

"Don't ask, just do it," Zoro snapped, feeling like if he didn't get Sanji in him soon, he might forgo their agreement and take him.

"No," Sanji said firmly, shaking his head and making his wet hair drip. "I need to know. I _need_ to ask."

That was yet another hint that Sanji had been through something against his will. It pained Zoro to hear that tone in his lover. "Yeah, Sanji." He spoke his name warmly. "Yeah, I'm ready."

Sanji nodded, looking grimly satisfied, but a smile finally did curl up onto his lips. "Sorry, no lube."

"No problem." Zoro spit on his hand and rubbed it onto Sanji's dick.

"Elegant as ever," he teased.

**End of Chapter 3**


	4. Hot Memories and Cold Water

Chapter 4

**Hot Memories and Cold Water**

Sanji was incredibly gentle, considering the man loved it rough. He pressed in slowly, maddeningly slow. Zoro thought he could handle it like he did any other pain he received in battle. However, slashes to the chest or stabs through skin were nothing compared the Sanji's girth tearing into him.

"Oh fuck, you're huge," Zoro groaned.

"Does that hurt?" the cook asked as tenderly as a man handling a virgin.

"No, I'm good. Go on."

He pushed deeper, going slow to let Zoro get used to it, watching the swordman's face to know if anything gave him discomfort. When he was fully inside, Zoro wrapped his legs around Sanji's body and pulled him tighter until he felt that little bundled lump deep inside. Sanji knew he had stroked Zoro's prostate when the swordsman shouted loudly, not bothering to keep quiet, not down here in the ocean.

"What the hell sort of training have you been doing?" the swordsman moaned. "Dammit, you weren't this big last time."

"Does it hurt?"

"Ask that again and I'll punch my fist up your ass and ask it right back at you."

Sanji chuckled with a light smirk tweaking his lips. "I might enjoy that."

"You just might," Zoro had to agree with a gruff laugh.

Sanji reached between their bodies and grabbed Zoro's shaft. As he pumped into him, he timed each thrust to his nimble hand. Zoro was left speechless. Could this even be the same lover from two years ago? Could it be an impostor? Granted, Sanji had rarely topped back then, but Zoro knew his size, length, and girth. He imagined that getting back together would feel like old times.

This was even better.

"Oi," Zoro gritted between Sanji's smooth thrusts. "If we ever make it back, we're doing this with lube."

Sanji had a small smile, but he did not speak. Between waves of pleasure, Zoro sensed Sanji staring at him, looking at the bandanna, glancing down to where Zoro's sticky shaft was darkening in his fingers, and sometimes he fixated on the scar over his eye.

"Move just a... no, back," Zoro said, gritting tightly. "There! Holy fuck, yes, there! Ah shit, that's..." Words failed under the pounding waves of pleasure each time his prostrate was stroked, and Zoro was left with only guttural moans to show how much he loved it.

That little smile spread, but Sanji's face was loosening. A bead of sweat dripped down from his forehead, tracing his face down to his chin, and got lost in the wiry hair. He groaned and shuddered at the feel of his lover surrounding him...a man, a real man, a masculine man. Plus he could do this without the damn dress and giggling like schoolgirls afterward.

"Z-Zoro, I'm..."

"Me too. Damn, but this was way too quick."

"Might be better this way. So lightheaded," he moaned.

Zoro saw that the lack of oxygen was making Sanji woozy. It was hitting him too. Sanji sped up, finally becoming rough, sneering and clawing nail marks into Zoro's back, slamming over and over until Zoro shouted in euphoric pain. Suddenly he tensed, and Zoro felt the deep pressure fill his ass.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck!" Sanji groaned as he cummed. "Zoro! I love you, Zoro. My man. The only man I want."

Then, unexpectedly, Sanji pulled out.

"Oh, _fuck no!_" Zoro roared in protest. He might love Sanji, but at that moment he was ready to murder him.

However, the cook had some special ingredient to mix into this recipe for love. He leaned over and grasped Zoro's swollen cock into his mouth with lips firm from his smoking habit. The swordsman's murderous intent floundered at the burning heat of Sanji's tongue. Zoro was already close. Feeling that mouth he knew so well, the way Sanji sucked and licked in all the right places... Damn Mihawk, but fellatio was one thing he refused to do, although he loved having it performed on him.

As Zoro's mind whited out, he realized that the only man who had ever sucked him off was Sanji.

Sanji had been the first, and the last.

Sanji choked on the force of Zoro's cum jetting into his mouth. It filled his cheeks and threatened to drip down his chin. He could hardly swallow it fast enough and thought it might blow out his nose. This was something he missed. None of those damn okama assholes had wanted a blowjob, but always insisted on taking it in the ass. An entire island filled with crossdressing ukes, and Sanji was the only seme! It...was...HELL! However, even if they had wanted it, Sanji was not about to lower himself to that. He missed Zoro's salty-bitter taste, and he forgot that, if not given release at least once a week, Zoro built up quite a reservoir.

"Shitty marimo. I just got over a near-death by drowning. Now you're trying to drown me on your jizz."

Zoro was in no mood to banter. He grabbed Sanji up into his arms and held tightly as they drifted with the current. Sanji felt a joint pop from the crushing hug. If he had not had such firm muscles, Zoro could have crushed a rib bone.

"Oi," Sanji said languorously to hide how touched he was by such fierce possessiveness. "What's up with you, muscle-head?"

"Don't ever let us be separated like that again," Zoro whispered, shivering in the overwhelming afterglow. "Two years...and going through that hell...not having you there to keep me on my toes, to annoy me, to make me laugh, to encourage me and cheer me up. I can't live without you."

Sanji now truly took the seme role. He pulled Zoro's half-naked body up into his arms and cradled him in the tight bubble. The swordsman, used to a lonely life, socially inept in every way, hardly knew the grace of tender arms. Still, Zoro cuddled into him.

"Somehow," Sanji pointed out, "you managed to live just fine, although I question your health after eating God knows what sort of shitty food."

Zoro's brow tightened harder until Sanji could have stuck a coin between the wrinkle. "I wouldn't _want_ to live without you."

The cook thought about teasing him some more, but then he felt Zoro lean into Sanji's embrace, shivering in emotions the poor swordsman barely understood. Sanji sighed and shook his head. Zoro didn't have many tender moments, but those occasional glimpses were always sweeter because of their rarity.

The cook gently kissed Zoro's forehead and gave him a reassuring squeeze. "I ain't going anywhere." Sanji stroked Zoro's face with his small goatee until his mouth was right beside his lover's ear. "Even if we end up dying in here and going to Hell, I'm staying by your side. And if the Devil tries to pull us apart, I'll kick his fucking ass up to Heaven and make you the new Demon King."

Zoro had to chuckle a little. "Luffy can be the Demon King. I'll be his first mate."

"And I'll be the devilishly handsome cook. We'll totally rock the underworld!"

He was glad that those words made Zoro laugh. Sanji's head was truly buzzing now, and he realized that although they were joking about it, death was highly possible at this point. Their air supply was nearly gone. There was no sign of the Sunny. Still, holding Zoro in his arms, none of that seemed to matter. They were together. That was the most important thing now.

Sanji's lips lightly pulled on the dangling gold earrings, and in a hot whisper he said, "I love you, Zoro."

Hearing those words made the swordsman smile and shiver. Also want to cry? Fuck no! But after two years of humiliation and living in hell with his sworn rival, having a man like Sanji, someone tender, someone who would die to protect him, just as Zoro would give his life for Sanji, made the swordsman more happy than he had felt in two years.

"I love you too...ya damn shit-cook."

**End of Chapter 4**


	5. Promises for New Memories

Chapter 5

**Promises for New Memories**

Zoro nuzzled just below Sanji's chin. Tired, happy, protective while also wanting to be protected: this was a life worth the two-year wait.

"We're gonna die, ya know," Zoro mentioned casually.

Sanji hummed to himself. "Looks like it."

"You okay with that?"

"No. Can you think of any way to get us out of this?"

"Nope. We're pretty well fucked."

"In more ways than one," Sanji smirked. "You satisfied?"

"With you? Most definitely. With my life? Hell no! I didn't spend two years training just to die from a lack of oxygen."

"You want one final fight?" Sanji offered halfheartedly. "I wouldn't mind dying in battle, even if it's fighting you."

"It'd be a better way to go than just sitting here," Zoro agreed. "But honestly, I'm not sure I can hold my swords. My face is buzzing and I can't feel most of my arm."

"My left leg's numb and I can't feel my tongue," he agreed. "Just thought I'd offer."

They both began to pant at the stale air. Zoro heard Sanji's breath rattling in his lungs, gasping faster as the amount of oxygen in each breath became less and less. Then something came to the swordsman's mind. A darker, more serious twinkle shined in his eye as he stared into the impenetrable murkiness of this ocean that, in all likeliness, would be his and Sanji's grave. Maybe three more minutes of air. His mind was dipping toward unconsciousness already. Yet Sanji had asked him something earlier, and it was time for confession.

"Two."

The cook stopped panting and looked down to the man in his arms in confusion.

"You were about to ask how many people I had while we were apart. Two. Dracule Mihawk...I didn't have much of a choice with him," he gritted in residual fury. "And that ghost princess, Perona. Only a few times with her, and only because I was either drunk or depressed or both. It wasn't serious or anything, just...they were the only ones there. Just those two. You?"

Sanji looked aside. "Me?" Being in his arms, Zoro felt his lover shiver in some old horror. "None were...were my choice," he said delicately. "Just something I had to do, not what I...what I wanted to do." His throat clamped shut to stop a sob and choked his last word.

"I'm so sorry," Zoro whispered, petting the thicker goatee the cook sported. "How many?" His eyes narrowed dangerously, as if squinting could hold back the flames of jealousy and over-protectiveness. "How many men do I have to kill?"

Sanji had to laugh at his aggressive side. "To be honest, quite a few. I'd say around..." Suddenly his eyes caught something in the water. "Luffy!" he shouted.

Zoro looked behind him. There was not much to see, but that gangly silhouette with the ridiculous hat was unmistakable. "Oh shit, he's sinking fast. Get dressed, dartboard brow. Luffy!" He began to paddle the bubble hard. "Shit, I can't breathe!"

Sanji quietly moved out of the way, straightened his pants, and tucked his shirt back in. "Let me get him," he offered. "You get dressed." Sanji straightened his tie with a debonair flair and faced where their captain was plummeting without the strength to even flail about. "_Blue Walk_," he yelled, and bolted out of the bubble, looking like he was running underwater.

Zoro quickly yanked his pants up, fixed the dark green coat, took the bandanna off, and tied it back onto his arm. He watched Sanji grab up Luffy's sinking body, and in an afterthought, snatched up his iconic straw hat. Then, just as fast, he raced back to the protection of the bubble.

Luffy was awake and gasped for air. "Gee, thanks guys. Guess I shouldn't have made that last punch so hard. Popped the bubble. I thought for sure I was a goner." He grinned foolishly huge. Even death was something Luffy could laugh about. "It's sort of hot and sweaty in here. Smells funny, too."

Sanji looked over fast to Zoro, who had a faint blush on his cheeks.

"Wow, I really can't get any air," Luffy laughed. "Oh, hey, I tamed the squid."

"You mean the Kraken?" Zoro frowned, drawing his knees up to make room for the others. His ass was on fire, Sanji's cum threatened to drip out, but he strained not to make a face.

"Yeah, he's over there. Can I swim over to him? Pleeeease? Maybe we can hitch a ride."

Zoro glanced to Sanji, who shrugged tiredly.

"I'm pretty much out of breath," Sanji admitted.

"If you want him, Luffy, you do the swimming." Zoro moved his swords to lay across his lap and leaned his back against Sanji's. "I'm tired. I'm taking a nap."

Luffy happily swam forward, letting Zoro and Sanji lean against one another. Sanji slipped his hand backwards and locked his fingers around Zoro's. The swordsman glanced around with a small, secretive smile. Sanji thought he looked so wonderfully worn out, with his eyelid half closed and sweat still shining in his green hair, like dewdrops on spring grass. The taste still thick in his mouth was better than any feast.

"Maybe we'll find the _Thousand Sunny_ after all," Zoro said softly, nearly unconscious from lack of air.

"Huh?" Luffy practically shouted. "Of course we will! I saw them not long ago. Surume can get us there in no time."

"Suru-...? You named that monster?" Sanji grimaced. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. Before he could search for his lighter, Zoro pounded him on the back of the head.

"The hell ya think you're doing, shitty ero-cook! I can't breathe as it is. Light that up and you'll fill the bubble with your damn stinking smoke."

"Che! Fine." Sanji put the unused cigarette away. "I just like to light up after a good...uh, workout." He leaned his head back onto Zoro's shoulder and nuzzled slightly into him as Luffy reached the Kraken. "I can't wait to get back to my kitchen and that cutting board."

Zoro chuckled softly. "Me too," he sighed. "Hey Sanji, I'm...I'm about to...to pass out."

Then against his back, Sanji felt Zoro go suddenly limp.

"Marimo?" No answer. "Hey, muscle-head."

Luffy looked back in worry. "Is Zoro okay?"

Sanji cringed a little when he couldn't tell if Zoro was breathing or not. He wasn't dead already, was he? Instead of an answer, Sanji heard snoring. He sighed in relief.

"Damn idiot fell asleep."

Luffy laughed happily. "That's just like Zoro. Okay, Surume's gonna take us to the Sunny. Tally-ho!"

Sanji could barely pay attention to the Kraken or Luffy. He secretively reached back and held Zoro's hand. "When you wake up, wherever we end up, I'll be next to you."

Zoro mumbled in his sleep. "You better...ero-cook. I'll remember your promise today."

"Don't worry," Sanji whispered. "I won't forget, and I won't break my word."

**The End**

* * *

><p><em>AN: This was my first fanfic EVER! I just needed to move it over to "Wild Rhov" since it's rated M. I lost the comments and favs, which is a horrible shame. I did copy and save them in a file, because comments mean so much to me, they're precious. This began as an experiment to see if I could write slash, not mere wham-bam-thank-you-Dan, but something emotional, a little dark, something...therapeutic? I wanted to capture the emotional edge that is lacking in most slash. Sanji NEEDS to have sex to regain his masculinity. Hopefully this worked. So see, this isn't just me writing yaoi, it's an exercise to make me a better writer._ XD

_I'm sorry if you've read this in the past, please like it again and put it as a fav again. Also please leave a comment, even just "I came, I read, I liked." It really means a lot to me. I write to entertain others, so reading comments, no matter how brief, gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling!_ ^_^


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